Toothbrushes which have a neck region having an opening in the neck which extends in a direction transverse to the toothbrush bristles are known. This opening is intended generally to permit better adaptability of the toothbrush head to the dental cleansing process in the mouth. As a result, the reduced cross sections in the neck region provide greater elasticity and therefore better, but also more abrupt, compliance of the brush head. With these known toothbrushes it has been shown however that a controlled handling of the head in the mouth is greatly impeded in disadvantageous manner. This applies in particular to a brushing technique using the Bass method and to other methods in which forces are exerted on the head in various axial directions during brushing.
U.S. Patent Application No. 2008/0184511 A1 also discloses a toothbrush whose head segments are able to adapt during the tooth cleaning process particularly well to the tooth surface which is to be cleaned.
There is a need to provide a toothbrush of the type initially referred to which on the one hand can be used particularly ergonomically and on the other hand can still be used for a controlled dental cleansing operation.